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ISIS-inspired twins attack family, kill mother in Saudi Arabia after she told them not to join terror group

Twin brothers in Saudi Arabia who took inspiration from the Islamic State terrorists killed their opposing mother and severely wounded their father and older brother Friday, June 24.

According to Gulf News, Saudis are left in utter shock and confusion how the 20-year-old well-provided twins with good academic standing managed to attack their own flesh and blood.

A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) waves an ISIL flag in Raqqa June 29, 2014. | REUTERS/Stringer

The spokesperson for the Interior Ministry announced that Khalid and Saleh Al Areeni committed the heinous crime early Friday morning. Investigations revealed that the twins pre-meditated the murder using a cleaver and sharp knives that they brought from outside.

The twins first stabbed their 67-year-old mother, Haila, whom they lured into a storeroom. They then moved to stab their 73-year-old father before chasing to stab their 22-year-old brother Sulaiman. The twins' father and brother are being treated in a hospital while their mother died on the spot.

Officials arrested the twins 100 kilometres southwest of Riyadh after fleeing their home in a stolen vehicle.

Hundreds of mourners turned up on the mother's funeral held Saturday evening. Local reports said she had already suspected her sons' plan to join ISIS and warned that she would report them to authorities.

Saudis took to social media to call for death penalty for the twins and other terrorist sympathizers.

The grand mufti and chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Asheikh, also denounced the twins' act.

"The twin brothers are misled by Daesh which incites killing even Muslim relatives after labeling them as infidels. This incident shows that Daesh militants have totally deviated from the right path and have nothing to do with Islam," said the grand mufti on Al-Watan, as reported by Saudi Gazette.

He cited that even the prophets of the earlier times did not kill their relatives who did not share their faith. He stressed that Islam calls for respect and service to parents is next to worshipping Allah.

"However, these Daesh terrorists came with a false ideology that allows the killing of Muslim relatives after labeling them as infidels," he said.